It's not about the Bulls defense or the Bulls rebounding or the Bulls' depth.

It's not about the Heat's stagnant offense or the lack of height up front or the lack of support for the Heat's Big Three.

It's not about Chicago's dominance of Miami this season.

Now it's about the Heat's offensive adjustments and the Heat's scrappiness and the power of three.

It's about the rediscovery of Udonis Haslem and with it, apparently, the strengthening of the Heat's heart.

It's about the Heat suddenly looking dominant at the right time. With just one win.

No, the Bulls aren't a team that will fold under the pressure of playing on the road. And by no means does the Heat have a stranglehold on this series just by winning one of these games in Chicago.

But that edge the Bulls had over the Heat after their fourth win in a row is gone now. And guess who was largely responsible for the Heat taking ownership of that?

Here's a hint: He's a champion and a fighter and he has been begging to play this role for weeks. And he still wears cornrows and you know him well.

Haslem knows how thankless it can be to be a teammate of superstars.

He did it so willingly while Dwyane Wade and Shaquille O'Neal were running Miami's show on the way to a championship.

And though he only had a few weeks to be teammates with Wade, LeBron James and Chris Bosh this year, he'd been well trained in playing a role and playing it well.

That's why he wanted back so badly last series. It's why he wanted so badly to play significant minutes in Game 1 as the Bulls were thrashing the Heat on the boards and winning with the hustle game that defines the Miami native.

He didn't want to be part of the show. He just wanted to set the stage.